A South Wales Police officer has managed to keep his job despite a crafty computer trick that kept his screen active for over 100 hours! PC Colin Blackman admitted to using an unusual method: placing a drink can on his keyboard to keep his computer showing he was “available for work.” While some might call it a clever hack, the force’s professional standards team wasn’t too impressed and accused him of faking productivity.
What’s interesting is that while two officers in another department got the boot for similar tricks, PC Blackman explained that he wasn’t being sneaky but was rather ensuring he was ready for any new tasks. His explanation found favour with South Wales Police chief constable, Jeremy Vaughan. Blackman’s record of always meeting his targets and helping out colleagues when he could might have played to his advantage. On top of that, audits revealed that he consistently delivered the required number of occurrences, and even surpassed expectations on some days.
The trick involved leaving a document open in Microsoft Word and weighing down a key to maintain a ‘live’ status on his computer. Though his actions initially seemed like a path to gross misconduct charges, upon review, the chief constable saw it differently. The officer’s productivity and perfect track record came under consideration, and the case of discreditable conduct against him wasn’t proven.
Meanwhile, another police force has been taking strict measures against similar incidents. In Avon and Somerset, a sergeant faced dismissal for using a picture frame to weigh down keys in a bid to stay logged in. Last year, the same force terminated PC Liam Reakes for employing an identical tactic.
Unbelievably creative or flat-out cheeky? Let us know what you think about this unique work-from-home saga! 🧐 #PoliceNews #WorkFromHome #CreativeHacks